Floating dock system and hoist

ABSTRACT

A dock system having a dock assembly having a frame made of tubing, a conduit supporting channel, a plurality of planks, and a plurality of floats. Attached to the dock assembly is a hoist assembly that includes a pair of support frames, a drive mechanism with a drive shaft and a pair of cradle straps attached to the drive shaft and a pair of retaining elements.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application No. 61/817,934 filed May 1, 2013.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The invention is directed to a floating dock system and more particularly to a lighter, more stable, and more economical floating dock system.

Floating dock systems are known in the art. Typically, conventional floating dock systems include a frame made of angle iron. Not only are these frames heavy but it is desired to reduce deflection of the dock when a vertical corner load is applied. Further, angle iron frames have limited tolerance under a horizontal wind load and is limited to elastic behavior up to the yield point of the material. Beyond the yield point of the material will deform permanently, possibly to the point of failure. Further, hoists associated with floating docks are expensive and are not scalable making the hoists impractical for a number of applications. Therefore, there exists a need in the art for a floating dock system that addresses these needs.

An objective of the present invention is to provide a floating dock system that is more stable.

A further objective of the present invention is to provide a floating dock system having a hoist that is more versatile and economical.

These and other objectives will be apparent to one of ordinary skill in the art based upon the following written disclosure.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

A dock system having a dock assembly having a frame made of tubing, a conduit supporting channel, a plurality of planks, and a plurality of floats. Attached to the dock assembly is a hoist assembly that includes a pair of support frames, a drive mechanism with a drive shaft and a pair of cradle straps attached to the drive shaft and a pair of retaining elements.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a dock system without floats;

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a hoist assembly; and

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of a dock system without planks.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

Referring to the Figs. the dock system 10 includes a dock assembly 12 having a frame 14 with a plurality of planks 16 attached transversely across the frame 14 to form a walking platform. Also, secured to the frame 14 below the planks 16 are a plurality of floats 18 that are partially submerged within a body of water 20.

The frame 14 is made of tubing. Based on testing, using tubing for the frame instead of angle iron, the tubing reduces frame deflection under a vertical corner load and reduces lateral displacement under a horizontal wind load.

When the dock assembly 12 is formed in a U-shaped slip, a plurality of support frames 22 are attached to the dock frame 14 through use of a bracket 23 or the like. A conduit 25 is welded to and extends down the length of the support frames. The support frames 22 preferably have a pair of side supports 24 that extend upwardly from the dock assembly and are connected to a horizontal support 26 that extends between the side supports 24.

Connected to one support frame 22 is a housing 28 having a drive mechanism 30 disposed within the housing. Rotatably connected to the drive mechanism 30 and extending out of housing 28 is a drive shaft 32. The drive shaft 32 extends to and is rotatably connected to the other support frame 22.

Attached to the drive shaft 32, adjacent each support frame 22 are a pair of cradle straps 34. The cradle straps 34 extend from the drive shaft 32, to a retaining element such as a pulley 36 adjacent one side support 24. From the retainer element 36 the cradle strap 34 hangs loosely into the body of water 20 and extends to a second retainer element 38 adjacent the opposite side support 24 and back to the drive shaft 32.

In operation, when a boat is in the slip and the drive mechanism 30 is engaged, the drive shaft 32 rotates in a first direction causing both ends of the cradle strap 34 to wrap around the drive shaft 32. As the ends wrap around shaft 32, the slack in the cradle strap 34 is taken up such that the cradle strap 34 engages and lifts the boat. To lower the boat, the drive mechanism 30 reverses the rotational direction of the drive shaft 32 causing the cradle strap 34 to unwrap and lower the boat. 

What is claimed:
 1. A dock system, comprising: a frame made of tubing; a plurality of planks attached transversely across the frame, and a plurality of floats secured to the frame and are partially submerged in a body of water.
 2. The system of claim 1 further comprising support frames connected to the frame with a bracket.
 3. The system of claim 2 wherein a pair of side supports extend upwardly from the support frames and are connected to a horizontal support that extends between the side supports.
 4. The system of claim 3 wherein one support frame has a housing having a drive mechanism disposed within the housing and a drive shaft rotatably connected to the drive mechanism at one end and rotatably connected to the other side support at the other end.
 5. The system of claim 4 wherein a pair of cradle straps are attached to the drive shaft adjacent each support frame, extends to a first retaining element adjacent one side support, hangs loosely into a body of water, extends to a second retaining element and extends back to the drive shaft.
 6. The system of claim 1 further comprising a conduit supporting channel welded to the middle of the frame. 